IronPigs rebound behind Smith, Henson

They overcome previous night's heartbreaker with a 2-1 matinee win over Rochester.

July 31, 2013|By Jeff Schuler, Of The Morning Call

When IronPigs clubhouse manager Jason Ross went looking for a uniform for Tyler Henson on Tuesday, he had "sizing issues."

The only jersey he had available that would fit the newcomer was the No. 5 worn by the man Henson was replacing on the roster, all-star Cody Asche. So J-Ross, as he's known, simply took Asche's nameplate off the back of that jersey and put Henson's on it.

Apparently, with apologies to Nike, it's gotta be the number.

After hitting a pair of home runs in his debut Tuesday night, Henson belted another Wednesday that proved to be the deciding run for Greg Smith and Lehigh Valley in a 2-1 matinee victory over Rochester before the summer's 14th sellout of 10,100 at Coca-Cola Park.

Asche had hit 15 homers wearing that number, five of them in his last eight games, including a pair of two-homer games.

"Is that Asche still wearing No. 5 over there?" Smith quipped as he glanced across the clubhouse to where Henson was dressing.

The victory came less than 16 hours after one of the season's most frustrating losses, when the IronPigs (56-56) squandered a four-run lead over the final two innings of a 5-4 loss to the Red Wings, and keeps Lehigh Valley within 41/2 games of a possible playoff berth with 32 games to play.

"This was huge," Henson said. "Smith threw his butt off on the mound and got the outs when he needed them, and we got the hits when we needed them. It's a big win after last night."

"I like that winning way better than I like that losing," IronPigs manager Dave Brundage said.

Henson also had a hand in the first IronPigs run, following a Cody Overbeck leadoff double in the second with a fly to right that enabled him to reach third, setting up Derrick Mitchell's sacrifice fly.

Then, Henson drove Andrew Albers' first pitch in the fifth over the Bacon Strip and onto the concourse in right for his third home run in his first six IronPigs' at-bats. He had hit four in 80 games at Reading.

It was the first time since 2009 at Frederick and only the third time in his career he homered in back-to-back games.

"I'm just sticking to a plan and it's all working out," said Henson, who was 5-for-11 in his last three games at Reading to raise his average to .264.

Henson, signed as a minor league free agent last winter, played 123 games at Norfolk in 2011, and 53 of 87 games last year in the Dodgers organization at Triple-A after opening the season at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

This year he was Reading's opening-day third baseman, a position he played early in his carer but only sparingly over the previous three years.

"I didn't expect to spend that long down there but I learned a lot, played well defensively for the most part and I got a shot here and I'm happy to be here," the 25-year-old said. "It's exciting coming here and playing for a team in a playoff race."

A big reason that team is still in the race is because Smith (6-1) has quietly turned into the staff's stopper. Each of his victories has come in starts following a loss the night before, including his de facto start on July 8 in the completion of the suspended game with Pawtucket.

In those nine "starts," Lehigh Valley is 8-1.

"It's just competing," said Smith, who allowed nine baserunners in 71/3 innings but stranded seven of them (one was erased on a double play). "If it happens to where my spot in the rotation comes up on a day we need a win, then so be it. My approach doesn't change if we're on a nine-game winning streak or a nine-game losing streak. I'm going to try to throw everything where I want to throw it and go as deep as I can go."

Rochester loaded the bases twice against Smith, in the first and sixth innings. But Smith found a way to minimize those threats, as he has all season in the few jams he's found himself in — the left-hander's overall ERA dipped to 1.94, although his ERA as a starter shot up from 0.79 to 0.94.

"He's got such a good idea what he wants to do with the baseball, and he gives you a good feeling when he's standing on the mound," Brundage said. "Not because he's overpowering, not because of what he does, but because of his preparation. He knows what he wants to do."

Unlike the previous night, the IronPigs bullpen finished the job. Mike MacDougal came with the tying run at third with one out in the eighth and stranded him there, getting a groundout to a drawn-in infield and a flyout. Then Cesar Jimenez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save.

The IronPigs had just six baserunners against Albers (11-5), who threw 96 pitches over eight innings in his third complete game.

"It was a pretty good duel between two not-so-overpowering left handers, but two pretty intelligent left handers," Brundage said. "It was kind of a chess match out there; it was kind of fun to watch. If you were a wanna-be pitcher sitting in the stands, you got to see a couple of intelligent pitchers teach you how to pitch."